In the Sky This Week

Weekly post on what you can see in the sky.

In the Sky This Week – August 15, 2017

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This entry is part 1 of 125 in the series In the Sky This Week

Venus is a bit lower and Orion a bit higher in the eastern morning sky. Venus orbits closer to the Sun than Earth, and is racing ahead-of and away-from the Earth; the planet will vanish from view in mid-November as the Sun comes between it and the Earth. The waning crescent Moon appears thinner and closer to the horizon each morning in the eastern sky. Note: I used Stellarium’s new “Astronomical calculations” feature to generate the ephemeris for this image – I expect you’ll be seeing more of this. The Moon be in conjunction with the star Aldebaran on the Aug. 16th, appearing VERY close to each other, VERY early in the morning. Aldebaran is a orange giant star about 44 times the size of the Sun, located about 65 light years away. Aldebaran is positioned close to the ecliptic plane, and is frequently occulted by the Moon… just not this month. Jupiter is visible only for a short time … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week – January 23, 2018

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This entry is part 2 of 125 in the series In the Sky This Week

In the southern predawn sky, Mars and Jupiter continue to separate after their recent conjunction; Mars will slowly make its way southeast towards Saturn over the next several weeks. Saturn will get higher in the southeastern predawn sky with each passing morning. The Moon The Moon is a waxing crescent, visible in the southwestern sky at dusk, and setting around midnight.   The Moon will be at first-quarter on the 24th, and will be a waxing gibbous for the rest of the week, heading toward full on the 31st. The Moon will be a great observing target this week. On January 31st there will be a total lunar eclipse – this will be the first Blue Moon eclipse in 150 years! The Sun The Sun is spot-free, which was a shame last weekend – I set up my telescopes at ConFusion – a Science Fiction convention in the Metro-Detroit area. I’ve been bringing my telescopes to these conventions for several years now, and … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week – January 16, 2018

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This entry is part 3 of 125 in the series In the Sky This Week

The megaconjunction of Mars-Jupiter and Mercury-Saturn in the southeastern predawn sky comes to an end as Mercury pulls away from Saturn, disappearing into the light of the dawn. Jupiter and Mars slowly separate over the coming weeks; Mars getting lower in the sky as Jupiter journeys southward. The new Moon will be on the Jan. 17th. A waxing crescent Moon will be in the west-southwestern skies this weekend at dusk, setting a few hours after sunset. I’m really hoping the sky is clear this weekend as I’ll be attending ConFusion – a Science Fiction convention, and bringing my telescopes; I always seem to get blamed for “bringing cloudy skies with my telescope…” The Sun The Sun has 1 medium-sized sunspot, with some coronal loops associated with it. The Sun’s corona, seen here in extreme ultraviolet, reveals a weak northern coronal hole, and a small hole at the southern pole. There is, however, a mid-latitude coronal hole that pouring the solar wind out right at … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – June 27, 2017

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This entry is part 4 of 125 in the series In the Sky This Week

Venus remains high in the eastern morning sky, the Pleiades star cluster appears between Venus and the star Capella. The Moon is a waxing crescent, appearing in the west after sunset. Jupiter is high in the southwest, and Saturn is low in the southeast sky after sunset. There will be a conjunction of the Moon, Jupiter and the star Spica on the evenings of June 30th and July 1st. Here is the current positions of the planets in the solar system: … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week – January 9, 2018

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This entry is part 5 of 125 in the series In the Sky This Week

Jupiter and Mars continue their predawn dance in the southeastern sky, getting a bit farther away from each other with each morning. Saturn joins Mercury very low in the southeastern sky just before sunrise. Slowly over this week, Saturn and Mercury will swap positions in a dance of their own. A waning crescent Moon joins Jupiter and Mars’ predawn dance on the 11th, appearing only 3°39′ away from Mars. The Moon will appear lower in the southeastern sky, getting closer to Mercury and Saturn each morning; it may be too thin and low in the sky to be seen on the 15th. On the 13th, Mercury and Saturn will be separated by only 0°45′ of arc! And they will joined by the waning crescent Moon, and the red giant star Antares adds flavor to what must certainly be considered a multi-day “Megaconjunction” with the Sun, Saturn, Mercury, the Moon, Mars, and Jupiter all in the southeastern sky at the same time. The … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – July 4, 2017

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This entry is part 6 of 125 in the series In the Sky This Week

Venus is the bright morning star in the eastern sky, attended by the Pleiades star cluster, and the bright star Capella to the northeast. The southern sky is adorned with several jewels this week: the Moon appears high in the southern sky before sunset as a waxing gibbous – a few days past first quarter. Jupiter and Saturn are both visible, as are the bright stars Antares and Spica. The full Moon will be on July 9th. The bright star Altair (featured in the classic SF film Forbidden Planet) rises in the east followed by the constellation Sagittarius to the southeast. Sagittarius is recognizable by “The Teapot” asterism low on the horizon. Sagittarius has several interesting deep sky objects to observe using telescopes; something cool you can do with the public during nighttime observing sessions is point to the Teapot’s spout and say “that’s where center of our Milky Way galaxy is!” Before dawn, the constellation Hercules sets in the west, and “The … Continue reading →

In the Sky This Week – June 22, 2017

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This entry is part 7 of 125 in the series In the Sky This Week

The planet Venus appears high in the eastern morning sky; the bright star Capella, to the northwest, is the last star to fade with the oncoming dawn. The waning crescent Moon will vanish amid the morning haze to the east, to reappear in the west as a waxing crescent after dusk on June 25th. The Summer Triangle is an asterism formed from the three stars Altair, Deneb, and Vega, the brightest stars in the three constellations of Aquila, Cygnus, and Lyra. They can be see in the eastern sky before midnight. Jupiter is high in the southwestern sky after dusk, and sets in the west around 1:30 AM. Saturn appears high in the southeastern sky after dusk, is at its highest around midnight, and sets in the southwest just before dawn. Directly overhead, the Milky Way flows through the constellations Cygnus and Aquila (if you live in a city – trust me, it’s really there… drive out of the city … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week- December 5, 2017

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This entry is part 8 of 125 in the series In the Sky This Week

In the eastern predawn sky, Mars continues its weeks-long conjunction with the star Spica, and Jupiter tags along, lower towards the horizon. Orion sets in the west at 6:00 AM; the waning gibbous Moon, one day after full, sets around 9:00 AM. Both the Moon and Orion rise in the east around 10 PM. The Moon will be at third quarter on the 10th. From the southern hemisphere, the Moon and Orion’s orientation appear flipped to what residents in the northern hemisphere see. Mercury and Saturn are almost completely lost in the glare of the setting Sun to the southwest. From Perth, the light of the dawn starts shortly after 4:00 AM, with sunrise around 5:00 AM. The sky to the southeast before sunrise from Perth is spectacular! From the U.S., sunrise is shortly before 8:00 AM, and sunset is shortly after 4:30 PM. The constellations Ursa Major (including the Big Dipper asterism) and Leo are almost directly overhead in the predawn … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week- October 10, 2017

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This entry is part 9 of 125 in the series In the Sky This Week

The waning gibbous Moon is high in the southern sky before dawn; The Moon will be at third quarter on the 12th, traveling eastward and a bit lower each morning, it will be a waning crescent from the 13th through the 19th. The Moon will occult the star Regulus before sunrise on Oct. 15th. For a map and timing of the occultation for your location, click this link. Venus and Mars continue to appear close together, low in the eastern predawn sky. The Moon will appear very close to Mars on the morning of Oct. 17th. On October 14th, asteroid 2012 TC14 will pass by the Earth at 0.13 Lunar Distances – that’s WELL inside Earth’s geosynchronous satellite ring; the asteroid is estimated to be 8-26 meters in diameter. Earth’s gravity will bend the orbit of the asteroid as it passes by. There are currently no sunspots visible from Earth, but the coronal hole that has been hanging around for … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week – January 3, 2018

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This entry is part 10 of 125 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mercury rises shortly before the dawn, appearing low in the southeastern sky. Jupiter and Mars are only 1° 38′ apart – practically on top of each other! 1° is about the width of your little finger held at arm’s length. Compare the image above with the solar system image at the bottom of this post to see how Jupiter and Mars line up in relation to the Earth. A waning gibbous Moon, one day past full sets in the west with the dawn. After sunset in the east, Taurus and the Pleiades are already high in the sky, and Orion is just above the horizon. Orion is visible most of the night, setting in the west around 4:00 AM. The Sun The Sun has no spots, and has been completely devoid of sunspots for 6 days now. The solar wind speed is 377 km/sec, with a density of 6 protons/cm3 – lower speeds, and slightly more dense than in my last In the Sky … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week- December 19, 2017

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This entry is part 11 of 125 in the series In the Sky This Week

Mercury rises with the dawn, low in the southeastern sky. Jupiter, Mars and the star Spica are aligned almost in a straight line in the predawn sky. A thin waxing crescent Moon appears at dusk in the southwest on 21st. The Moon with be at first quarter on Christmas; all week long would be a great time to set up your telescope and show the Moon to family, friends and neighbors during this holiday season! The Sun One tiny little sunspot, and that’s all folks! Click the image below to see a larger version at the Solar Dynamics Observatory site, then scroll way over to the upper-left to find the sunspot. If you click the image above, in the close-up view you will notice grainy … somethings on the Sun – these are called granules. “Granules are small (about 1000 km across) cellular features that cover the entire Sun except for those areas covered by sunspots. These features are the tops of … Continue reading →

In the Sky this Week- December 12, 2017

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This entry is part 12 of 125 in the series In the Sky This Week

The waning crescent Moon joins Mars and Jupiter in the southeastern predawn sky for the next several days. The constellations Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades star cluster rise in the East with the dusk and are visible all night. Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades all set in the west around shortly before dawn. Astronomical League’s Navigating the mid-late December Night Sky Map The Sun There is a tiny little sunspot (near the center of the image), otherwise the Sun is doing what the Sun normally does when at solar minimum: practically nothing… Both the Sun’s poles have coronal holes, and there are a couple smaller coronal holes near the equator. The  solar wind speed is fairly typical at 489 km/sec, with a density of 7.0 protons/cm3. You can view the Sun in multiple frequencies, in near real-time here: SDO-The Sun Now The Sky Overhead The Solar System This is the position of the planets in the inner and outer solar … Continue reading →